This post is very messy. It resembles what my brain feels like most of the day. Flashes of this and that. I really blog for myself, because I know how quickly things fade for me. Read at your own risk!


Anna has started doing her own hair lately. She loves to do hair. Anyones hair. When her friend Savana was over, she did Savana's hair over and over. Good thing Savana is a good sport.


Chance and and Nathan. These two get along really well. We like having Nathan come over. Then Chance isn't bothering the girls so much. They thought they were pretty cool with their sticker costumes. Do you like Chance's goatee. (not sure how to spell that one.)


Some of the kids watching the horse show while Caroline and I picked berries.

This one's for you Misty.

Having fun with cousins.

More fun.

Cait and Cody after they got their haircut. Such cute girls!

Colten's face was red all day long and he must have drank gallons and gallons of water, but he never wanted to come in.

Caroline would put the berries in and her baby would take them out.

Buddies, Anna and Savana, and Chance and Nathan after picking berries.

Bud sitting on Aaron's lap while he's driving!! That has to be against the law. Bud doesn't seem to care about laws though. We he decided to get up, he crawled over Aaron's head and onto Colten's lap.

Sitting between Anna and Colten.

Naptime. I guess just thinking about Aaron driving to California wore Grandpa out too.

After 2 months of no work for Aaron, he finally has work again! I must say it was pretty fun having him at home. It felt kinda lonely without him those first couple days. We managed to find fun stuff to do though. My friend Caroline and her kids came with us to go pick berries. We went to Carnation and it was one of the prettiest places I've seen. The kids had a great time playing together and I find berry picking very relaxing and enjoyable and having good conversation made it even better. The berries were so sweet and delicious. What could make the day any better? Well at the blueberry farm, they were having a horse show. So you know me, I was in heaven. The sun was shining, the blueberries were easy picking, the kids were happy and there were horses everywhere. I'm pretty sure that was close to heaven on earth. On our way home Caroline wanted to stop by a little burger place she had spotted on our way there. There sign read, "we specialize in grease, salt, sugar and caffiene." It sounded like my kind of place so I was in. The french fries were delicious! I really wanted to try one of their shakes, but there was no way I was paying $4.00 for a small shake.

We also made a mad dash to California for Aaron to take care of some stuff he had started for Grandma and Grandpa before he went back to work. I'm always amazed at how well the kids travel for 18 hours straight in the car. This time we had Bud with us too. That dog kept thinking it was okay to sit on my lap and everyone elses while we were driving. Needless to say at the end of the drive I felt oh so dirty. Visiting Grandma and Grandpa and Kym is always enjoyable, the kids love helping Kym with all the animals, Aaron loves hanging out with Grandpa, and it's fun for me to visit with all of them and be away from home. This time we were so close to AZ that I couldn't avoid the temptation and the kids and I stole away to tucson for a couple of days. It was so good to see my Mom and Dad and DD, Misty and kids and LD and kids. The heat wasn't as bad I thought is was going to be. It was 110 degrees both days and it certainly didn't stop the kids from playing outside all day. I wanted to see so many other people, but couldn't let myself steal away time from my family.

Cody had her adnoids removed this week and tubes put back in her ears. She was such a little trooper. After the surgery, it took her forever to wake up. She would open her little eyes and start to cry because she was so tired, so the nurse would tell her to go back to sleep. I think it was close to 2 hours later that we finally left the surgery center. Cody does love her sleep, that was what I worried about the most with the whole surgery, was putting her under. Everything went just fine though and other than a stuffy feeling nose Cody is doing well.

One Chance I'd take over and over again

PB and J on the countertop.


Swimming at the lake


View across to the main beach.

Colten gave Chance a black eye for his birthday. His little brother has an awfully hard head.

I guess holding his nose helps Chance think, shortly after doing so, the light bulb went on and Chance figured out where his next clue was.

On the trail to treasure.

Thinking.

Oh so close!

Victory at last. I was happy that Chance was actually the one who found his treasure.

First lessons with Dad. This is what happens when you let Dad do the birthday shopping.

Chance turned SIX this week! My little man. I love Chance. He can be so stubborn at times but for the most part he is a very good kid. He is kind and giving, smiley, happy and cuddly. Aaron was out running errands and volunteered to do Chance's birthday shopping for me, of course I took him up on it. I should have known better! My poor poor neighbors.

All day long I kept thinking about how blessed we are to live where we live. It is so beautiful and perfectly suited to Aaron and I's personalities (Only in the summer for me. I need to be a snowbird :)) We started the day out with waffles at Chance's request. For lunch we had his all time favorite PB & J. I don't know any kid that likes peanut butter sandwiches as much as Chance. Then we headed out to the lake. The lake is pretty close to our house and a great spot to cool off in this 90 degree, scorching weather (he he). The water there is warm and fairly clean for a lake and most of all, it is just plain pretty out there. Then we came home had dinner and started a treasure hunt for his birthday presents. I am a sucker for treasure hunts, ever since my sixteenth birthday I have been hooked on treasure hunts (Thanks Cori and Shannon and whoever else helped planned that. That was the best treasure hunt ever!) The kids had a great time figuring out the clues and we enjoyed many laughs watching the light bulb come on. At the end of the treasure hunt, stashed under a tree, was Chance's treasured BB gun. I wanted to thump Aaron when he told me what he got Chance, but after seeing Chance's excitement it was hard to be mad. He told us about how he had wished on a star the night before for a BB gun and how his wish had come true and that he had the best dad ever. I found it funny that he instantly knew Dad had bought the gun for him and not mom. Funny how well kids know their parents. We stayed in the field for a while and all the kids had a turn with target practice. We have some pretty good little shots in this family. Then we came in for cake and ice cream and Chance opened all his cards from family. Thanks for the kind wishes and bills ya'll sent his way. We ended the night with hide and go seek in the dark (another game I am a sucker for, it's never hard to talk me into a game of hide-in-seek). It was a very exciting, tiresome day with my sweet little kids. Thank goodness for non-birthdays so I can recover. Happy Birthday Chance, I've had a wonderful six years with you.

Flashback

Just a couple of little things I wanted to blog before I forget them. Fathers days was a fun day. It was so much fun to watch the kids try to show Aaron how much they love him. They helped make him breakfast in bed. Gave him the cards and coupons they had made in school. All day long he was showered with gifts (used toys) wrapped up in blankets and towels. The cutest one was when we went to bed, I turned the covers back and was arranging the pillows and under Aaron's pillow was a collection of plastic dinosaurs and action figures the Chance had left there for Aaron to find. It was a sweet way to end the day.

On the 4th of July we spent the day with our neighbors. That week spareribs had went on sale and we were able to get 10 pounds of ribs for $10 which was a smoking deal. Aaron made some of his best ribs ever. They were delicious and really hit the spot. After dinner we went over to the neighbors and had a bonfire with smores and watched them light off their hundreds of dollars of fireworks. We definately got the best end of the deal. We provided dinner and they provided the fireworks. The kids sang the star spangled banner all day long and we are still trying to convince Anna that it is not "Jose can you see." Cait declared it her new favorite holiday as long as we live in Washington where we can set off our own fireworks. It was a wonderfully relaxing day. The only thing I wished we could have done, is went to see a parade somewhere. I have decided that I really enjoy parades, next year I will have to seek one out.

Lunch on Top of the World

We feel like we have been hanging out on the bottom a bit lately and decided it was time to feel like we were on top of things again, so we went and had lunch on top of the world a couple of times this week.

I love this picture. Anna was like a little Gazelle on this hike, hopping and bouncing up and down the mountain. I caught her in the air as she was jumping down to the next log.


That was the mountain we just climbed behind them.


These next couple of pictures are of a bike trail about a mile from our house. It is great to run down too. We have hiked this area quite a few times and always find a new trail to take. This one is by far one of the coolest trails we have been on. It had really cool obstacles all throughout the trail. This picture is one of the many plank bridges.




Some crazy sideways jump they had built.

This was the top of the mountain where we had lunch. We had invited the neighbor and her little girl to go with us too.

Colten having lunch with Dad.

Anna and Autumn with the Maple Valley area behind them.

Aaron and Colten on top of the world. Colten had a pretty good nap going up the mountain.

Anna, Autumn and bud.

Our Little Artist

Chance has a great imagination and it really comes out in his drawings. He loves to sit and draw and color. Aaron and I really enjoy having him explain to us about his drawings. The one below is one of our favorites. I am hoping he will follow in Aaron's footsteps and develop this talent as he grows.

A quick explanation: Dad (Aaron) is hanging from the helicopter. He was stabbed with a knife and is about to be attacked by that eagle flying towards him. He barely escaped from the bear that was chasing him through the woods. Chance's explanation was much, much, much, :) more detailed, maybe I will have him help me edit this later. There is even a fallen log in the forest and the cave the bear just came out of behind him.

Huh?

Cody:
Yesterday as we were pulling into a store parking lot, Cody says to Aaron and I, "Mom and Dad can we adopt an 'african brother', I hear they are a lot of fun. My friend Capri from school is getting one." Aaron and I busted up laughing, it was like she was talking about a new toy or something. Cody has never ceased to amaze us with the things that leave her mouth.

Anna:
Last Thursday Aaron and I were cleaning up dinner and heard a loud gulping noise. I didn't think much about it, but Aaron looked over and saw Anna staring up at him with wide eyes. She looked like she had seen a ghost and he started questioning her as to what happened. She told him that she had swallowed a penny. I started questioning her at this point and found out that she had actually swallowed a quarter! Aaron was wigging out a little bit and went to get some answers online. I decided that since she was breathing perfectly fine, we didn't need to take her into the ER, that there wasn't much they could or would do at this point. (I hate taking my kids in only to find out that there is nothing they can do.) So we started watching every bathroom trip, but still haven't seen the illusive quarter. I have to admit, that we are not looking all that well, but I am still leary and keep hoping that she doesn't end up with some crazy blockage. Ugh!

Nothing says happiness like a .....

RIDING LAWN MOWER! A guy from church was getting rid of his riding lawn mower and asked Aaron if he wanted it. He told him it wasn't working, but if Aaron wanted to fix it he could have it. Of course Aaron wanted it! He has been wanting one for forever, even when we didn't have grass to mow. I swear Aaron can fix anything, he had that thing running in a couple of hours. It wasn't put all the way back together in these pictures, but it is now. After the grass was all mowed, he started pulling the kids around on sleds behind the mower just for an excuse to use his mower. Boys and their toys. Look at the happiness radiating from him.

Whistling away while he's cutting the grass. Oh yeah, I think his tractor's sexy!

This next one is just for fun. Aaron has been building us a shed with a really steep pitch to the roof. So to roof the shed, he decided to build himself a harness. He wanted to try it out before getting up on the roof, so he grabbed the dog's leash and hooked himself up to the porch. While he was up there the log he was standing on rolled out from underneath him and off the porch. This is what I saw when I opened the door to a soft knocking sound. I couldn't help myself, I let him hang there while I went to find the camera. Ha! Life is never dull with Aaron around.